Glass and place: using properties of the one to reflect (on) qualities of the other: an effort of attention

Everything that happens takes place somewhere, in a particular physical or cultural space. The character of a place is constituted, its distinctive timbre generated, by the constellations of events occurring in it and how those blend, interweave and play out over time. Such textural qualities infuse and inform our experience of places, they shape our ‘knowing’ at a visceral level that goes unnoticed in our ordinary lives. Our conscious awareness of the places and spaces we visit and inhabit is filtered by our interests, honed through habit, marshalled and constrained by conventional perceptions of what matters. The contingent qualities of places beyond the purposes they serve for us are rarely considered and harder to attend to. But if we want to appreciate the world in its own right, not just in ours, finding ways to do so seems worthwhile. Artists adopt a variety of strategies to penetrate beyond the more obvious features of place. Some seek estrangement through the systematic application of arbitrary rules, others through strenuous efforts of will. I use ways of looking and thinking that are grounded in my experience of training as a glassmaker and developed using photography and video. My approach employs a broadly defined ‘glass sensibility’ that encompasses both the physical abilities of glass to mediate visual perception and their metaphorical correlates as shapers of ideas. My mode of enquiry is the essay, a flexible and open-­‐ended form of reflexive investigation that is highly attentive and responsive to its subject matter, and follows where that leads. But unlike other essayists who pursue their trains of thought in lines of words, my attempts at understanding are more visual. I explore my chosen places -­‐ a bus, a train, a road junction, a kitchen, a forest, a park, a desert -­‐ by spending periods of time in them doing whatever being there generally involves whilst also noticing how things happen and taking photographs. What I’m looking out for are telling facets, small examples of conjunctions of events which I can somehow ‘cut and polish’ at the critical angle that aids transparency, letting light in on the intrinsic character of the place and making it sparkle. The substantive outcomes of these essays are new awarenesses that bypass language; but each is accompanied and supported in the thesis by a textual account of how it came about. The contributions made by this thesis are three-­‐fold: It expands the repertoire of strategies for appreciating place, develops a novel understanding of how glass-­‐based thinking may inform processes of exploration and offers a new, more literal, version of essayistic reflection

Place of medical qualification and outcomes of UK General Medical Council “fitness to practise” process: cohort study

Objectives To evaluate whether country of medical qualification is associated with “higher impact” decisions at different stages of the UK General Medical Council’s (GMC’s) “fitness to practise” process after allowing for other characteristics of doctors and inquiries

Biokinetic processes of extracellular polysaccharide (EPS) stabilization of surface soils against dust generation

Extracellular polysaccharide produced by a copiotrophic and nonpathogenic bacteria, Arthrobacter viscosus, promises to be an effective alternative to the use of chemical substances in dust control on exposed soil surfaces. The feasibility of this biokinetic stabilization approach to dust control depends in part on the capacity of injected microbes to produce EPS that can increase the resistance of soil to drying (desiccation) stresses. Initial laboratory based biokinetic investigations were performed to determine the rate of EPS production by Arthrobacter viscosus in both Haggstrom media (EPS production media) and sterilized samples of silty clay, sandy clay, and sandy silty clay soils and the effects of EPS on dusting resistance indices such as cohesion and retention of intergranular pore liquid. To achieve this objective, both Haggstrom media and the soil samples were inoculated with nutrient broth (20 to 100 ml/mL of Haggstrom media) containing Arthrobacter viscosus and changes in dusting resistance indices (soil cohesion, frictional resistance, and desiccation rate) in response to EPS growth were monitored. It was initially determined through tests that an optimum EPS quantity of 12.5 g/mL of Haggstrom media is produced by microbial broth concentration of 60 ml/mL of Haggstrom media. EPS-CM production rate in soil after initial injection of microbial broth concentrations (5 to 25 mL/g of soil) was tracked using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), which has been shown to be an effective tool in determining the thermal decomposition of polymeric materials mixed with other composites. TGA results indicate that optimum EPS production in silty clay soil samples occurs at between 48 and 72 hr i after soil injection with the highest EPS quantity determined to be 3.8 mg/mg of soil observed when a microbial broth concentration of 20 mL/g of soil is used. In sandy clay and sandy silty clay soils, EPS quantity of 2.5 mg/mg of soil and 3.3 mg/mg of soil occurred in both soils respectively. To further investigate the effectiveness of EPS-CM in surface soil stabilization against dust generation, a direct application of different concentrations (5 to 25 mL/g of soil) of extracted EPS from the Haggstrom media and an indirect application of extracellular polysaccharide-Culture Media (EPS-CM) to the soil through injection of microbial broth with cells of different concentrations (5 to 25 ml/g of soil) for in situ EPS production with time were compared using deionized water as control. Three soil mixes were used, which include silty clay soil (original sample), sandy clay soil, and sandy silty clay soil were prepared from the sieve analyses of the soil samples collected. As part of the characterization of these soil samples, their specific 22 surface areas were determined to be 8.397 m /g for silty clay soil; 8.121 m /g for sandy 2 clay soil; and 8.193 m /g for sandy silty clay soil. As an indirect measurement of the potential resistance of the stabilized soil to in situ stresses that can be caused by drying, direct shear and unconfined compression tests were performed on replicates of the treated soil samples. The equations developed in chapter 2 to compare the effects of EPS-CM treatment of soil friability indices, deformation resistance indices, coefficient of soil failure, and effective porosity were evaluated in chapter 8. The results of unconfined compression tests show that in EPS-CM amended silty clay soil samples, a strain of 0.34 to 0.20 from day 1 to day 3 occurred at EPS-CM concentration of 5 mL/g of soil but at higher EPS-CM concentrations, soil strain is observed to fluctuate with time. The least strain (0.25) occurs in silty clay soils treated ii with EPS-CM concentration of 25 mL/g of soil compared to sandy clay and sandy silty clay soils. Thus soils with higher specific surface and clay minerals can develop cohesion more effectively than coarser-grained soils following EPS-CM amendment. Desiccation tests performed on treated and control soil samples at 34 % relative o humidity and temperature of 37 C show that soil liquid content decreases with time. At relatively high EPS-CM concentrations of 15 to 25 mL/g of soil, EPS-CM-amended silty clay soils retain 5 % more liquid with time than sandy clay and silty clay soils. Fluorescence microscopic imaging of the treated soil samples clearly show the presence of EPS-CM as intergranular pore material and as smears on soil particles in EPS-CM- amended and microbial broth-amended soil samples whereas they are absent in the control samples. The effects of EPS-CM amendment of the following selected indices of soil resistance to dust generation from exposed ground surfaces were investigated (soil cohesion, frictional resistance, effective porosity, desiccation rate). Data show that effective porosity in EPS-CM amended silty clay soil decreases with time due to continued EPS production by A. viscosus while changes in effective porosity with time in sandy clay and sandy silty clay fluctuated with time and EPS-CM production. After a 21- day monitoring with sampling at three 7-day intervals, unconfined compression and 2 direct shear tests indicate that increase in cohesion from 37 to 45 kN/m occurs in EPS- CM-amended silty clay soil at EPS-CM concentrations ranging 5 to 25 mL/g of soil. In 2 sandy clay and sandy silty clay soils, maximum cohesion levels of 27 kN/m and 24 2 kN/m were observed, respectively, for the same EPS-CM concentrations within this 2 sampling time while control samples show cohesion increments of only 0 to 15 kN/m . Generally, it is observed that despite cyclical fluctuations in EPS-CM content in response to microbial dynamics in soil, frictional resistance decreases with increase in concentration of EPS-CM. Thus EPS-CM increase in intergranular pore space reduces intergranular friction but enhances cohesion within an overall increase in shear strength especially in fine grained soils that are prone to dusting. Liquid retention capacity, which is known to affect dust generation, improves favorably in EPS-CM-amended soils. With respect to practical use of duct control in the field, this research indicates that mixing of EPS-CM with microbial broth and scarified soil surfaces before compaction can be effective

Effects of maternal, gestational, and perinatal variables on neonatal line width observed in a modern UK birth cohort

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to explore potential relationships between neonatal line (NNL) width and early life history variables such as maternal health, gestation, the birth process, and perinatal health. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Histological thin sections of deciduous canines were studied from 71 children from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). The width of the NNL was measured in three locations on the tooth crown using spatial mapping techniques (ArcGIS) from digital images from an Olympus VS-120 microscope. Life history variables were collected prospectively through a combination of clinical observations and questionnaires. RESULTS: Infants born late term or post term had narrower neonatal lines than those born prematurely or at full term. Infants born in Autumn (September to November) had narrower NNLs than those born at other times of year. NNLs in infants born to mothers with hypertension were wider than those without. Infants resuscitated at birth or born to obese mothers had narrower NNLs than those that were not. There was no association between NNL width and either the type or duration of delivery. DISCUSSION: The NNL in enamel is an irregular accentuated line, but the factors underlying its formation and width remain unclear. In contrast to some previous studies, we found no association between wider NNLs and long or difficult births. Instead, we found that the width of the neonatal line NNL varied in relation to parameters that reflected the prenatal environment and length of gestation

Differences in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium strain invasiveness are associated with heterogeneity in SPI-1 gene expression

Most studies on Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium infection focus on strains ATCC SL1344 or NTCC 12023 (ATCC 14028). We have compared the abilities of these strains to induce membrane ruffles and invade epithelial cells. S. Typhimurium strain 12023 is less invasive and induces smaller membrane ruffles on MDCK cells compared with SL1344. Since the SPI-1 effector SopE is present in SL1344 and absent from 12023, and SL1344 sopE mutants have reduced invasiveness, we investigated whether 12023 is less invasive due to the absence of SopE. However, comparison of SopE+ and SopE− S. Typhimurium strains, sopE deletion mutants and 12023 expressing a sopE plasmid revealed no consistent relationship between SopE status and relative invasiveness. Nevertheless, absence of SopE was closely correlated with reduced size of membrane ruffles. A PprgH–gfp reporter revealed that relatively few of the 12023 population (and that of the equivalent strain ATCC 14028) express SPI-1 compared to other S. Typhimurium strains. Expression of a PhilA–gfp reporter mirrored that of PprgH–gfp in 12023 and SL1344, implicating reduced signalling via the transcription factor HilA in the heterogeneous SPI-1 expression of these strains. The previously unrecognized strain heterogeneity in SPI-1 expression and invasiveness has important implications for studies of Salmonella infection

Création d’une communauté réunissant les études queer sur le handicap : leçons tirées de l’escargot

Cet article décrit le Queer Disability Studies Network (Réseau d’études queer sur le handicap), un espace créé pour les universitaires et les militantes et militants des études queer sur le handicap afin de bénéficier de solidarités, au sein des études sur le handicap, queer, trans et intersexe, en particulier pour les personnes marginalisées en raison de la queerphobie, de la transphobie, de l’intersexephobie et du capacitisme. Cet espace permettrait aussi d’alimenter les échanges d’idées d’une discipline à l’autre. Le réseau a été créé pour s’opposer à l’institutionnalisation d’idées qui délégitimiseraient les vies et les identités trans au sein du milieu universitaire et offre un espace de solidarité et de résistance au sein de l’université néolibérale capacitiste. L’article fournit une explication des origines du réseau. Puis, il utilise le motif de l’escargot symbolisant le réseau pour organiser les apprentissages des études trans, queer, intersexes et sur le handicap en un ensemble de « leçons » pour les groupes cherchant à développer des solidarités au sein des communautés universitaires et militantes. Ces leçons soulèvent des questions cruciales liées aux concepts de 1) chez-soi, 2) temporalités et mobilités et 3) incarnations et vulnérabilités. Nous concluons en discutant des implications de ces leçons pour la pratique des solidarités et des politiques de coalition en des temps contestés

Building a community for queer disability studies: lessons from the snail = Création d’une communauté réunissant les études queer sur le handicap : leçons tirées de l’escargot

This article describes the Queer Disability Studies Network, a space set up for Queer Disability Studies academics and activists to find solidarity, particularly those experiencing marginalisation due to queerphobia, transphobia, intersexphobia and ableism in Disability, Queer, Trans and Intersex Studies; and for ideas in these disciplines to inform one another. The network was established to oppose the institutionalisation of ideas that would delegitimise trans lives and identities within academia and provides a space of solidarity and resistance within the neoliberal-ableist university. The article provides an explanation of the origins of the network. From this it uses the network’s snail motif to organise learnings from Trans, Queer, Intersex and Disability Studies into a set of ‘lessons’ for groups seeking to develop solidarities within academic and activist communities. These lessons raise critical questions related to concepts of 1) home, 2) temporalities and mobilities, and 3) embodiments and vulnerabilities. We conclude by discussing the implications of these lessons for practising solidarities and coalitional politics in contested times

Création d’une communauté réunissant les études queer sur le handicap : leçons tirées de l’escargot

Cet article décrit le Queer Disability Studies Network (Réseau d’études queer sur le handicap), un espace créé pour les universitaires et les militantes et militants des études queer sur le handicap afin de bénéficier de solidarités, au sein des études sur le handicap, queer, trans et intersexe, en particulier pour les personnes marginalisées en raison de la queerphobie, de la transphobie, de l’intersexephobie et du capacitisme. Cet espace permettrait aussi d’alimenter les échanges d’idées d’une discipline à l’autre. Le réseau a été créé pour s’opposer à l’institutionnalisation d’idées qui délégitimiseraient les vies et les identités trans au sein du milieu universitaire et offre un espace de solidarité et de résistance au sein de l’université néolibérale capacitiste. L’article fournit une explication des origines du réseau. Puis, il utilise le motif de l’escargot symbolisant le réseau pour organiser les apprentissages des études trans, queer, intersexes et sur le handicap en un ensemble de « leçons » pour les groupes cherchant à développer des solidarités au sein des communautés universitaires et militantes. Ces leçons soulèvent des questions cruciales liées aux concepts de 1) chez-soi, 2) temporalités et mobilités et 3) incarnations et vulnérabilités. Nous concluons en discutant des implications de ces leçons pour la pratique des solidarités et des politiques de coalition en des temps contestés